The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Spike’. ‘Spike’ represents a new bigleaf hydrangea, a perennial shrub grown for landscape use.
The Inventor discovered the new cultivar in 2006 as a naturally occurring branch mutation of Hydrangea ‘Challenge’ (not patented) that was growing in a container in Amstelveen, The Netherlands.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by softwood stem cuttings by the Inventor in Amstelveen, The Netherlands in 2006. Asexual propagation by softwood cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.